So my cycling banter continues. I always get into cycling even more this time of year. It's hot. The Tour is on TV. My bike is ready to go. I read bicycling magazines. Bicycling blogs. Bicycling forums. I read and watch videos on good cycling technique. How to change a flat tire. How to adjust your rear derailleur. You know. Things like that.

When I came across the Bike Snob blog I didn't realize that it was the most popular cycling blog in the US at the moment. Apparently this dude lives in NYC + rips on just about anything he can find. How Alberto Contador (winner of the Tour) flashes his finger like a gun in salutation when he does something well. Or how fixie bikes without brakes are being used by people that don't actually know how to use them.

It's a glorious read.

Raleigh is full of fixie-ites. For those that don't know a fixie bicycle is a bicycle consisting of only one gear. The pedals always move. Even down a hill. Purist don't use brakes, but their own feet to stop the bike. It's quite the skill. Think about it. You're flying down a hill at 15-20 miles and hour, your feet are spinning and the light turns red. You have to stop except you have no brakes. Yea. Probably don't want a fixie now. Unless it has brakes.

All that to say that Raleigh is full of fixie-ites and their riders all have a somewhat similar persona. Kinda of like those guys who drive really cool old cars. It's a different persona, but it's similar in delivery when you talk them. The big concept? I have something really cool.

So there is this fixie crazy and it's just nuts. Tons of (mostly young people) have them. And messenger bags to boot with their apple laptops. Now I say all this, because I could easily fit into some of these categories. I have a bike with clipless pedals and I often commute to coffee shops and I ride it on long rides on the weekend. But I carry my stuff in a Jansport backpack unfortunately. Not hipster enough. And my beard should be a mustache, but I really like my beard.

All this ranting given was some release upon reading the Bike Snob's blog + this post specifically:

I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the messenger bag part. Pretty hilarious. Read the part about what the guy is doing with his Specialized New York City Edition Langster (apparently that's a bike). But the whole post on fixies is quite interesting + quite entertaining. Much more justice than I could do here.